Stoke City legend Ryan Shawcross has been appointed under-21s head coach on a permanent basis, assisted by fellow club hero Liam Lawrence.
Shawcross returned to Stoke as a youth coach last summer, working at first with the under-18s before stepping up alongside Alex Morris with the 21s. He took charge of the team when Morris moved over to join the first team coaching set-up in the spring and will keep that role now that Morris is staying over with Steven Schumacher’s backroom. He will be on the sidelines on Friday evening for the under-21s’ first friendly of pre-season, at Kidsgrove Athletic (7pm).
Lawrence started his coaching career with Stoke back in 2020 and has worked with the under-15s and 16s before moving up the age groups. Dave Hibbert will lead the under-18s assisted by Darren Potter and all four will take on individual, unit and team training sessions to prepare rising talents to stake a claim for a place in Steven Schumacher’s first team.
Academy director Gareth Owen said: “Ultimately he’s a leader. He was captain here for so many years and he’s brought that into his coaching.
“The academy and the football club is in such a privileged position at the PDP (professional player development) level for under-18s and 21s. We’ve got four people who firstly care passionately about the club and passionately about young people having opportunity, then bringing the craft knowledge having played in the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two, the National League, they’ve had injuries and had to deal with that.
“I think, uniquely, we’ve got four people who have played in different positions at a top level. Dave Hibbert is a striker, Ryan Shawcross a centre-half, Liam Lawrence a wide player and Darren Potter a midfield player. We can shape training on a team basis with the 18s and 21s, they know what the professional game is about, we can use their craft knowledge and position-specific training, we can have individual-specific training as well. We think that team is second to none.
“Factor in Ryan’s background and what he’s gone through in his career and with this club, I’m excited to see where we can get our 18s and 21s and that coaching foursome is one to be feared in my opinion.”
Shawcross studied for his coaching pro licence in the latter years of his playing career and it is no secret that he has ambitions to become a manager at some point down the line. Sporting director Jon Walters has made the point that life at Stoke should be about developing coaches as well as players.
Owen said: “We had a review at the end of last season and said that if we’re developing players we should be developing staff as well. We have got staff who have moved on to Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool. Chalky (Paul White, former academy head of sports science) went to Saudi Arabia and we’ve had staff go onto first team level.
“We’ve had staff who have done that but what we talked about at the end of the season was having an individual development plan. If we’re asking players, every day to come in to learn and be better, that should be the same for staff. It’s a big thing that we’re trying to shape the programme for staff too and it’s individualised for them, individualised to the game – how do we expose some staff to League Two, National League? We come here every day to a fantastic facility and training ground but we have to prepare players and staff for the days when they don’t get that.
“It’s a massive thread that’s running through the academy next season. It’s not just player development, it’s staff development as well.”
The under-21s will join the first team tomorrow for a week-long training camp in Cork.
The under-18s head to Preston North End to start their pre-season schedule tomorrow before hosting Grimsby Town at Clayton Wood in the first annual fixture for the Peter Handyside Trophy a week later.
Sporting director Jon Walters, who was a long-term teammate of Shawcross, said: “It’s great for us to have four professional development phase coaches with such extensive knowledge and wide-ranging experiences.
“With their passion for Stoke City, the promise they are showing in their coaching journeys so far and their enthusiasm to develop the talent within our Academy, I am excited to see our young players progress under their guidance this season.”